An Open Letter to the BBC

It was recently announced that your channel BBC Three will be closing down and be becoming an online only channel in 2016. We’re currently unsure of the format it will take but I can imagine it as something similar to Netflix or iPlayer.

Anyway, the reason I’m writing you this letter today is because I think the BBC should take into consideration the raw creative talent all around the UK. I know that you already have graduate schemes and apprenticeship schemes to help foster and build up new faces in the industry, but my proposition is simple…simpleish.

When BBC Three becomes an online channel I think that it should be used not just for the shows that fit BBC Three’s demographic but also as a platform for new talent to get their ideas and concepts out into the world.

Imagine this, young talented filmmakers/cameramen/writers can pitch their idea for a show, a panel of people can then help develop that idea and commission it to be created with a budget that the filmmaker themselves provides. They go out and create a pilot, assembling their own team of creatives and complete the project. They then send it through and it gets uploaded onto the BBC Three Online Channel.

From there hundreds of people can see this pilot, comment on it and share it and those talented individuals can get their names out into the open.

Not just that though. The BBC can also benefit from this. Let’s say a pilot becomes extremely popular and people want more? The BBC could then commission and greenlight for a whole series to be made and give support and a budget to the creators, the series could then be either a web series or an actual series shown primetime on BBC One, Two or Four. A new wave of TV comedies, dramas, music and documentaries would be at your fingertips.

I believe that the BBC should be doing all it can and more to foster in the new age of creatives that could one day be running the networks. With the graduate and apprenticeship schemes, the writers room already in place I think this could be another string to your bow and it completely supports your Creative Digital plan.

So Tony Hall, or whoever really sorts these things, please take into consideration the massive opportunity you have in front of you and the opportunity you could be providing many people who are struggling to crack into the industry and get their ideas out there.

I know this post might not make much sense and it’s possible that you’ve already considered this approach. I just want to put it out there and see what other people think. Whether it’s a venture worth pursuing.